Can Barca Advance Against a Rolling PSG?

In the first leg of the Champion’s League, Barcelona suffered a defeat that shocked fans and players alike, losing 4-0 to underdog PSG.

The score reflected their players’ performances well, as PSG’s squad was in much better form on the day.

Barcelona fans will have a hard time forgetting this nightmarish loss, as their team collapsed on the pitch.

However all is not lost, with the second leg coming up, Barcelona has no time to be depressed, and must focus on preparation.

The second leg will be in Barcelona’s home ground, so let’s make some predictions and look at the odds.

-The state of both teams

Barcelona has been playing well as usual in La Liga, sitting at the top of the table with a game in hand on the competitors, sitting above eternal rivals Real Madrid.

They also won their last fixture against Celta 5-0.

Since their champion’s league loss to PSG they have a win streak of four straight, and their morale seems to be on the rise.

Especially the marquee player of the MSN trio, Messi is getting back to his usual self, with a highlight worthy goal against Celta.

Looking at PSG, they have continued to struggle in the league as has been the case all year.

They have continued to hover around the top spot, though Nice FC has the same number of wins, and PSG can’t afford to relax.

PSG hasn’t been in particularly poor form, but they do have some concerns in their upcoming CL leg against Barca.

Their last game against a low ranked team, they won by a slim margin of 1-0. Though they did get a big win against Marseille prior to that with a 5-1 statement over their opponents.

It’s hard to say if PSG is in their best form or not at this point, however it seems they are building up their strength for the upcoming clash against Barca.

PSG was able to win 4-0 against Barca in their home ground, however things still seem a little intimidating for their next leg at Camp Nou.

They can’t afford to relax even though it seems they hold a large advantage going into the final leg.

Emery seems to have especially bad luck at Camp Nou since his days in Spain.

Looking at it like this, Barca may be able to easily overturn a 4 goal camp in their homeground at Camp Nou.

-In spite of that things won’t be easy for Barcelona

As mentioned above Barcelona’s team is made up almost entirely of superstars with huge attacking ability, so perhaps a 4 goal gap isn’t the iron wall it looks like now.

But, if they were to allow Paris to score even 1 goal, Barcelona will need to score 6. So from that angle this gap can start to look hopeless.

This year there were only 6 games that Barcelona was able to pull out a 6 point margin of victory.

Of those six, those results were almost entirely against low ranked clubs.

The moment Barca allows a goal from PSG in the second leg, their hope of moving to the best 8 will dissapear.

-Key point for the game

The key for this game is how PSG plays early on. Even though PSG won by a huge margin in the first game, they can’t allow themselves to relax in Camp Nou.

Though it’s likely that somewhere in the PSG players mind, they may already be feeling their victory, and could let their guard down.

If they let this affect their usual play, and let in a few early goals, things could get out of hand for them fast.

The most important thing for PSG to focus on is to play like always, and not let their situation focus their play style too much on offense or defense.

The balance of offense and defense for PSG was fantastic in the first leg, and their forwards played very aggressively, and they want to use this same style to break up Barcelona’s pass-heavy game.

Emery is probably hoping for another perfect victory over Barca like in the first leg.

For Barca’s side, it is important to attack, but more than that, all of the players need to up their work rates, and outwork PSG’s squad.

Barca suffered from PSGs high pressure attack early on in the first leg, but they should counter with pressure of their own in the second leg.

We also have to ask how much pressure Messi and Suarez can put on the opposing team.

They don’t typically participate in the team’s defense, but the key for them is use their power to pressure PSG’s defense.

Compared to their 3 stars up front, Barcelona’s midfield seems a little weak, and if they have the same trouble with PSG’s pressure as last time, they won’t be able to connect well with the MSN trio.

If this is the case the result could very well look the same as the first leg.

Looking at it this way, perhaps Barcelona should just focus on scoring more so than connecting play.

It is difficult to play outside your typical style of play against strong teams, but if they can’t do it there are fears that it will end up the same as the first leg.

This will be a test for both teams, and their ability to work well together.

-Let’s look over the bookmaker’s odds.

Now let’s look at the odds for this fixture.

Bet 365

So the odds do heavily favor a Barca win, but the Champion’s League is focused on the aggregate score.

It’s not easy for Barcelona to make it the final 8 stage looking at a 4 goal gap starting the second leg.

Hoping for miracle on the Barca said seems like a little too much. Looking at things objectively it is certain PSG will make it to final 8.

For Barcelona this game is their biggest test of the year.

Can they do the impossible and advance to the final 8 with a miracle win? It’s sure to be a match the whole world will be watching.

-In Conclusion

Barcelona will welcome PSG to their home ground in the Champion’s League second leg.

Since PSG already has a huge advantage, all the focus is on how they will start off the match. Barcelona on the other hand, has to be in their best form and the MSN trio will need to be even better than usual.

Can they show off their dazzling skills in the second leg, even though they were crushed by PSG’s high pressure in the first leg?